The House of Representatives has set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the activities of Nigeria Hajj Commission (NAHCON) and the Federal Capital Territory Administration Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, their agents and sub-agents over the conduct of the 2024 Hajj exercise.
The committee which has Hon. Sada Soli (APC, Katsina) as chairman was given two weeks to carry out its assignment and report back to the House.
The decision followed a motion at plenary on Thursday by Hon. Mohammed Umar Bio (APC, Kwara) where he accused the Commission and the FCT Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board of shoddy preparations and execution of the 2024 Hajj exercise.
Presenting the motion, Bio said Hajj exercise was important in the life of every Muslim as one of the five pillars of Islam which necessitated the setting up of NAHCON to provide efficient and effective services to the pilgrims through implementation of the NAHCON Act.
The federal lawmaker noted that about 50, 865 Muslim pilgrims across the states in Nigeria were under the care of NAHCON but lamented that some of them were not offered sufficient welfare, organisation, guidance and monitoring as expected especially in Makkah and Mina.
In view of the huge amount paid by the pilgrims, NAHCON’s 2024 budgetary allocation, intervention from the Federal Government to the tune of N90 billion and support from the Government of Saudi Arabia, the lawmaker scored the performance of NAHCON and FCTA Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board below expectations, especially in Makkah and Mina.
He stressed that if the poor performance of NAHCON was not investigated and addressed with a view to improve future operations, further Hajj exercise for Nigerian citizens may be more complicated and put the entire country in bad light among the comity of nations.